Broad-billed Sandpiper: 29 December 1997

To build up an appetite for Christmas lunch, I went  for a walk round Point Cook, on Port Phillip Bay about 20 km west of Melbourne city centre - easily reached by following the signs from the Westgate Freeway.

We visited Spectacle Lake which has shrunk to about one-third its winter size, where there were a few waders, Marsh Sandpiper, Greenshank and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper plus Black-tailed Native Hen and Australian Shelduck.

At Point Cook itself (near the homestead) there was a flock of about 1000 waders feeding on the beach, on the falling tide. These were predominately Curlew Sandpiper and Red-necked Stint with a few Sharpies and Red Knot.

Amongst this throng was one Broad-billed Sandpiper (I apologise to the Melbourne and Victorian birders for not posting this earlier, but I only discovered the rarity value of this sighting yesterday). My field notes are as follows:-

Larger than a Red-necked Stint, smaller than Curlew Sandpiper. Most distinctive features a broad white supercilium extending from in front of eye to well-behind the eye. Bill proportionally longer than Red-necked Stint's but shorter than Curlew Sandpiper's although also down-curved. There seemed to be a reddish tinge to the base of the lower mandible otherwise the bill was black. The legs were dark, possibly greenish. Wings extended just beyond the tail. The bird's upperparts were greyish, but not as grey or as uniform as Curlew Sandpiper. Breast and undersides to the undertail coverts were white. There was fine grey

streaking on the ear coverts, extending onto the side of the neck and throat. There was a dark spot or patch on the wing between the bend of the wing and where it joins the body.

I looked hard for the split eye-strip but could not see it. I did not see the bird fly and so did not see the rump pattern. When I left the bird was happily feeding. (any comments on these notes would be gratefully received)

One other sighting of interest was a dark phase Skua heading past the point a long way out. I tentatively identified it as an Arctic Skua because it did not look powerful enough for a Pomarine. However, there was nothing else with which to compare it and it was a long way out.